citizens ourforeign nationals and citizens to accept and facilitate the release of hostages. the to accept and facilitate the release of hostages-_ of hostages. the labour mp has resiuned of hostages. the labour mp has resigned as _ of hostages. the labour mp has resigned as shadow— of hostages. the labour mp has resigned as shadow minister - of hostages. the labour mp has l resigned as shadow minister after keir starmer refused to call for a ceasefire between the war between israel and hamas. hello i'm gareth barlow. you are watching bbc news. a labour mp has resigned as a shadow minister over sir keir starmer�*s position on the war between israel and gaza, saying that the party should be calling for a ceasefire. imran hussain is the first member of the front bench to step down over the issue. he said he remained committed to labour's agenda, but that he wants to be a "strong advocate" for a ceasefire in gaza. the shadow education secretary bridget phillipson explained why labour was calling for a humanitarian pause and not a ceasefire. as keir starmer set out in his speech at chatham house, it would freeze the conflict. in time, it risks allowing hamas to regroup and to perpetuate further terrible atrocities that they've

said they want the opportunity to do. but that humanitarian pause, to allow for extra time to get into, for aid to get into gaza is in line with what the us are calling for as well. i think it's achievable. not only is it achievable but i think it is essential so that we can alleviate that suffering, get more aid in and make sure that we don't see children as the innocent victims of this conflict. live now to westminster and our political correspondent damian grammaticas. just talk to us about imran hussain�*s position in the comments he has been making. 50. hussain's position in the comments he has been making.— he has been making. so, what was interesting — he has been making. so, what was interesting is _ he has been making. so, what was interesting is this _ he has been making. so, what was interesting is this came _ he has been making. so, what was interesting is this came out - he has been making. so, what was interesting is this came out late i interesting is this came out late last night in a letter that he published on social media. the understanding is that he had let the party authorities know already and they clearly knew about his position because he had been quite vocal speaking in parliament before about this. so this wasn't a complete shock to the party leadership. but

what he said in his resignation letter and he has said before is he has described the situation of what is happening inside gaza as a humanitarian catastrophe. he said that he condemned the actions of hamas in october the 7th. isabel had a right to defend itself, to take action but he said that did not extend to breaking into international law and clearly in his view, cutting aid and water, cutting medical supplies to gaza, he said was a breach of the geneva conventions at a breach of international law and said he was deeply troubled by sir keir starmer�*s own positional statement he had made under questioning on the radio a little earlier in the conflict where appeared to support israel on that. he later said he was only supporting broadly israel's right to take action. but mr imran hussain said last night his position

clearly at odds of that with the party leadership. he wanted to call for a ceasefire and do so vociferously because he thinks that is the right thing to do and therefore he had to resign. he said he couldn't stand by while he said ten thousand people had died in gaza and he believes the ceasefire is what is needed now. iwith and he believes the ceasefire is what is needed now. with regards to the -a what is needed now. with regards to the party leadership, _ what is needed now. with regards to the party leadership, what— what is needed now. with regards to the party leadership, what does - what is needed now. with regards to the party leadership, what does this| the party leadership, what does this resignation mean for sir keir starmer?— resignation mean for sir keir starmer? , ., , , starmer? the first thing it means is that today. — starmer? the first thing it means is that today. this _ starmer? the first thing it means is that today, this issue _ starmer? the first thing it means is that today, this issue has _ starmer? the first thing it means is that today, this issue has sort - starmer? the first thing it means is that today, this issue has sort of. that today, this issue has sort of had all of us talking rather than what the labour leadership wanted to be on the agenda today, which is their position on the king's speech yesterday and particularly a focus on education and the number of children who are missing days in school. that is what they wanted and will highlight today in parliament but that is not what we're talking about now. that i think is a frustration for them. more importantly, i think the bigger issueis importantly, i think the bigger issue is the way that this puts a

spotlight on the sort of depth of feeling in some parts of the labour party about the leadership's position and the questions about what they have been potentially any more resignations? we have had resignations among local councillors, i think a7. that is a pretty small number when you consider there are several thousand labour councillors around the country back at the same time, we have also had i think 66 labour mps, about a third of the party, and i7 about a third of the party, and 17 of the labour front bench, so shadow ministers, shadowjunior ministers, ministers, shadow junior ministers, who ministers, shadowjunior ministers, who have in some way expressed sort of difference of opinion with the leadership on this. basically supporting the idea of a ceasefire, whether that is directly as some have done, quite vociferously, or slightly more indirectly by perhaps tweeting on social media, read tweeting on social media, read tweeting the un secretary—general, calling for a ceasefire and pushing

that out themselves. so signalling their support. the question then is, will any more of those follow? not an indication at the minute that they will but it could well happen. the difficulty for the labour leadership is to be seen... the extent to which sir keir starmer is seen to have dissent in his own ranks. interestingly, those comments from bridget phillipson you just played, the labour leadership obviously having one eye on the party and another on the bigger picture, the conflict, and you had the mention about the us, where the uk sits in relation to other nations in their position on this.— in their position on this. damian grammaticus _ in their position on this. damian grammaticus joining _ in their position on this. damian grammaticus joining us - in their position on this. damian grammaticus joining us from - grammaticus joining us from westminster, grammaticusjoining us from westminster, thank you. counterterrorism police are warning there could be an increased risk of attacks in the uk at the moment because of the conflict taking place in the middle east. they say tensions overseas have led to such here in the past. daniel sandford has more details.

day after day, the horrors of the war between israel and hamas being fought in gaza and southern israel are being brought to people in britain through their televisions and social media. and counter—terrorism officers are now warning that the conflict there could encourage extremists to carry out attacks here. we're, of course, very worried. we've seen a significant increase in the volume of reports coming into counter—terrorism policing from our communities. we've seen a quadrupling of reports directly linked to investigations. and we know from experience in the past that events across the globe and in the middle east can have a direct impact on events in the uk. that can have an energising effect on people who may be considering or may even be planning to commit violent acts on uk soil — that that could be the thing that tips them into actually going ahead and committing those atrocities. between the 7th of october and the 25th, there were around 1,350 reports to the national anti—terror hotline. that's twice the level

for the same period last year. some 200 of those reports were useful to investigators — a fourfold increase. at busy locations like london's trafalgar square, police patrols under the counter—terrorism tactic project servator are being carried out with extra vigilance. servator patrols involve specially trained, highly visible officers engaging with the public, encouraging them to be vigilant, while plain—clothes officers watch for suspicious activity. much like normal crime — no matter whether you're a shoplifter, all the way up to and including terrorism, some form of hostile reconnaissance takes place. and our aim is to detect and disrupt that hostile reconnaissance during the planning phase of a crime. the police are asking the public to enjoy the build—up to christmas — not to be afraid, but to be alert and vigilant and to report any concerns. daniel sandford, bbc news, trafalgar square.

a pro—palestinian protest and armistice day is likely to take place in london this sunday, according to the metropolitan police commissioner. marches have been taking place between the war that broke out a month ago. armistice day is marketing the ending of the ending of the first world war fighting. mark rowley said he can't stop a protest going ahead just because people find it disrespectful but said the force will do everything in its power to make sure armistice day events are not disrupted. the remembrance events will not be disturbed, whatever protests and events go on, we will do our utmost to protect those, because they are so critical. people shouldn't be in fear that those are going to be compromised. we will do everything possible to make sure they're not. the second point about protest, though — there will be a protest this weekend. parliament's very clear about that — the law provides no mechanism to ban a gathering, a static protest,

a rally, anything like that. there's no mechanism whatsoever to ban such a thing. and if the organisers want that, then it will happen. the health secretary steve barclay spoke to the bbc�*s today programme this morning and was asked about the protests. the government thinks it is provocative to have these marches on saturday, on armistice day. it is a very sacred day where the whole country comes together to remember those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice to give us the freedom to protest. the freedom to express different views the rest of the year. so i don't think it is the right day for those but we also recognise there is a legal process, legal threshold which is what the metropolitan police have been looking at. there will be further discussions in regard to whether it has been met. the government's view, we think it is provocative to be having this protest on that day, saturday, because it is such an important day for the nation.

that was steve barclay, the uk health secretary. there were elections across the us on tuesday — electing governors, local officials, and also asking the public to vote on constitional issues in several states. perhaps the most headline—grabbing outcome — voters in ohio approved a measure which will guarantee the right to abortion there. that makes ohio the seventh state in america to amend its constitution, or bring in new laws, after the us supreme court overturned the roe versus wade ruling, which removed the national right to abortion. with the latest on that, and what the outcome of the other elections across the uk may tell us about the public mood ahead of next year's presidential election, here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. this was a significant victory by supporters of reproductive rights in the state of ohio, the right of a woman to have an abortion.

a very closely fought race, as illustrated by the tens of millions of dollars that were poured into the campaigns on either side on this particular issue. in a state, and this is what makes this so interesting, a swing state, where there are roughly the same number of republicans as democrats, and this yes vote to reproductive rights, the right to have an abortion, suggests to us that there are a significant number of republicans in that state who support this issue and don't support the decision of the supreme court last year, which introduced a ban on abortions nationwide. the relevance of this moving forward into election year, less than a year now until the presidential election, is that abortion is going to continue to be a major issue. it was very significant during the mid—term elections of last year. but as we get closer to the november 202a presidential election, still most likely between president biden and former president trump, abortion will play a role.

it won't be the only issue. clearly the economy will be a very important. but i think especially for republicans up and down the country, this result in ohio and in several other states over recent months suggesting that people feel very strongly about abortion rights. it will be giving those politicians, those candidates, just pause for thought in terms of their attitude and the consequences of the supreme court decision of last year. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the headlines. in spain — dozens of people have clashed with police on tuesday, during a protest against ongoing negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. 39 people were injured and six arrests were made. taliban

authorities in afghanistan is only seven people were killed and 20 others injured in an explosion in the capital kabul. the explosion was on a bus in a neighbourhood dominated by the shia muslim community. the islamic state group said it was behind the attack. several leading climate scientist organisations there is virtually certain 2023 will be the world's hottest year on record. it follows global average air temperatures for october being recorded at 0.a celsius above the previous high. that is 1.7 celsius than the pre—industrial average. you are live with bbc news. hello, i am gareth barlow. a network failure at the telecoms failure happened in australia. it because transport delays, shut down payment systems. the australian government said the crash was caused

by a deep fault in the provider's network and said it didn't believe there had been a cyber attack. services were restored around 12 hours after the disruption began. we can cross live to sydney and speak to phil mercer. walk us through what the last day has been like. for millions of— the last day has been like. fr?" millions of australians, it has been absolutely chaotic. this all began about aam local time in eastern states of australia and lasted for much of the day. during that period, trains, hospitals, banks, schools, many, many businesses and millions of customers simply had no mobile phone coverage and no internet connections. so patients couldn't be contacted by their hospitals, by their clinicians. businesses lost out because customers couldn't pay with their credit cards. so all in all, a massive amount of chaos. opposition lawmakers in this country say all of this was a catastrophic

incident but the company involved, optus, australia's second biggest telecommunications company, is saying that services have been restored. as for the company's reputation, that might take a bit longer to return to what it was. so safe to say the company is now trying to find out exactly what went wrong. trying to find out exactly what went wronu. ~ . ., ~' trying to find out exactly what went wronu. ~ . . ~ trying to find out exactly what went wronu. ~ . ., ~ ., wrong. phil mercer, thank you for that update _ wrong. phil mercer, thank you for that update and _ wrong. phil mercer, thank you for that update and joining _ wrong. phil mercer, thank you for that update and joining us - wrong. phil mercer, thank you for that update and joining us from . that update and joining us from sydney. each year there are nearly 10,000 new cases of mouth cancer diagnosed here in the uk and our health charity is warning that lack of access to nhs dentists means that symptoms are not being treated early enough. latest figures from the oral health foundation suggests that there's been a 50 per cent increase in the number of people dying from the disease in the past decade. sharon barbour reports. i'd never heard of mouth cancer. without that dentist, i definitely wouldn't be here. and the options were surgery or palliative care because you're going to die.

ray from county durham and sinead from bury in greater manchester have never met, but they share an experience of surviving cancer of the mouth. yeah, she took the bone from my leg to make a newjaw. ray's face has been rebuilt using his leg muscles. they took it from my arm first. and the scarring is there for the tongue. sinead's tongue was rebuilt from muscles taken from her arm. i had a lump in my cheek and that was it. 6a—year—old ray had noticed a lump in his cheek. it wouldn't go away and he was struggling to speak. after weeks of trying to find an nhs dentist that would take him, he finally did find one, but 800 others were already on the waiting list. so he paid £50 and went private. lucky i had £50.

people that don't have £50 could be dead. everything went so quickly once i was diagnosed. i was diagnosed the 26th ofjanuary. surgery on the 14th of february. it was 16 hours of surgery, which is frightening. but an operation that saved his life. do you want to come through? sinead had a lump on her tongue. it was just a white lump. the edges were quite rough. it didn't hurt. after a doctor said it was nothing serious, it latertook a visit to the dentist, which led to a diagnosis of cancer. i was 39. i'd never heard of mouth cancer. so it was quite upsetting and just a bit of a shock. and just say ah, if you can. ah. the first thing we do is check the outside of the mouth- for any unusual signs.

it might be a lesion on the skin, a mole that looks suspicious - or like a lump that spreads quite fast, is quite aggressive. - and the sooner the patient's seen, the better. _ that's good. check the roof of the mouth. and it's dentists who are the specialists for oral cancers. the problem is they're hard to find. even we struggle to take on nhs patients ourselves just _ because our list is so full. so that is something going forward as a country we need to address i because i do think it has a big part to play in survival rates. _ the government says it's boosting nhs dental services. compared to the previous year, they say 1.7 million more adults are receiving nhs dental care and they have plans to increase dental training places by a0%. every year, there are nearly 10,000 cases of oral cancer and, according to the oral health foundation, more than 3000 deaths. and that's a rise of nearly 50% on ten years ago.

the symptoms of oral cancer include red or white patches in the mouth, a lump or a mouth ulcer that doesn't go away. if you get a lump in your cheek, don't just ignore it. get it sorted. glad i'm still here for my kids. you know, i've got two young children. without that dentist, i definitely wouldn't be here. sharon barbour, bbc news. a unique design competition has been taking place in new york city. it is called canned instruction. "canstruction" challenges designers, architects and engineers to take humble cans of food and turn them into gravity defying masterpieces — like a giraffe, or a giant pigeoh — even a teenage mutant ninja turtle. the competition then donates those canned goods to local foodbanks. check out theirs, a very rare blue

diamond has been sold for $a3.8 million at christies auction in geneva. the 17.61 carat, pear—shaped �*bleu royal�* diamond, set in a ring, is among the rarest ever to be unearthed. the auctioneer described it as the "largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue gem" to ever appear for sale in auction history. the diamond had an estimated value of up to $50 million prior to the sale. it is arguably the greatest work of british literature. welcome to prescot, nestled between st helens and liverpool. and this is — well, the last time i was here, it was the red lion.

it's now... the mermaid tavern in prescot. now, it wasn't the mermaid tavern last time i was here. it wasn't. it was the red lion. so why has it changed? it's changed — the mermaid tavern is actually a place where shakespeare used to drink. what used to be greggs is now mercutio's, named after the character from romeo and juliet. this has become the bard. the old mill is now the stage door. and yes, that is shakespeare again, looking down on us. this is the lord strange. and so far we've been to the mermaid, mercutio's, the stage door, the bard... add it all together and what do you get? well, it's an awful lot of shakespeare. and this is the cause of this shakespearean makeover in what used to be a town famous for making clocks, watches and cables. shakespeare north, a recreation of a theatre from the 1600s.

some are born great. some achieve greatness. some have greatness thrust upon them. and when people walk in here, does it have an impact? absolutely. yeah. i think when people step in the door, people we speak to afterwards in the bar, theyjust said, it'sjust amazing. we've got monitors in the dressing room and every night we see people coming in, taking photos of the theatre. i have never, ever seen that in any other theatre. no one does that. so they come in here — "oh, look at this!" they're walking round, taking pictures of the theatre. oh, here we go. here it is. this is... the folio. and on this a00th anniversary, it's one of the hosts of a rare copy of an original shakespeare first folio. the best and most beautiful folio. you're honoured. we really are. but this isn't a heritage project. prescot sits in the third most deprived borough in england, and this theatre has both an economic and a cultural mission.

the people on stage are the people who are in the audience, who are engaging with us. they look like us, they sound like us. and that's really important in making these human stories translate into an audience today. for tia, playing here both egeus and wall in midsummer night's dream, this was herfirst big break after an open audition in her home, newcastle. so does shakespeare sound better in geordie? yeah! everything sounds better in geordie, yeah! forgive me — i mean, you're not from a posh background, are you ? no, not at all. no, i'm from — like, councilflat kid, raised bya single mum. very proud of all that. but yeah, that's my background. so when i went into acting,

it is harder if you're, you know, if you're not from a kind of middle class background, i think for sure. so shakespeare didn't mean a lot to you when you were growing up? not when i was growing up. no, i wasn't exposed to shakespeare. so my first real hit of shakespeare was when i got the part. i remember when i first got it, you know, i was like googling every word and making sure you knew what it was you were saying. but once you get it, you get it, i think. he has my love and what is mine, my love shall render him. i wasjust in my element. i've never been able to to be on a stage like that. once you're in it, it's just the best feeling, it really is. and that question about what shakespeare should sound like is fascinating. shall i compare thee to a summer's day? thou art more lovely... ben crystal is an expert in shakespeare's own accent. and summer's lease hath all too short a date. ok, give me a couple of shakespearean quotes in the different accents.

so there's the posh one you would have taught in. if this be error and upon me proved, i never writ, nor no man e'er loved. so proved and loved, they don't rhyme. shakespeare would have done it? in original pronunciation, "if this be error and upon me proved i never writ, nor no man e'er loved". the rhyme works when you get the accent right. doing it in a northern accent, doing it in the west country accent, doing it in a norfolk accent. ithink it... does it bring something? absolutely. one of the greatest things about this theatre is that you hear the accents of liverpool and all the city regions, manchester and lancashire. that's what this place is about, isn't it? 100%, absolutely. you can pay very little to be here. and where you can hear a sound that's familiar to you, rather than is distant from you, it's the sound of the many, rather than the few, i think you're getting as close as we can possibly get to shakespeare without use of a tardis.

so, on this a00th anniversary, a moment of recognition for a town and a theatre deeply invested in the work and legacy of william shakespeare. david sillito, bbc news, prescot. hello and welcome. you are watching bbc news. you arejoining us live for coverage of the covid inquiry here in london. the inquiry is taking witness evidence here in london until christmas, before moving to scotland, wales and northern ireland. today, it will be hearing from the head of the civil

service from april 2018. today, it will be hearing from lord mark sedwill who headed the civil service from april 2018 to september 2020. we can now cross live to ellie price and peter soul who are following developments for us. lord mark sedwill has featured heavily in the inquiry already, what can we expect to hear from inquiry already, what can we expect to hearfrom him today? inquiry already, what can we expect to hear from him today?— to hear from him today? well, i think there _ to hear from him today? well, i think there is _ to hear from him today? well, i think there is plenty _ to hear from him today? well, i think there is plenty we - to hear from him today? well, i think there is plenty we will - to hear from him today? well, i | think there is plenty we will hear from him, he is scheduled to speak for most of the day. mark sedwill was the most senior civil servant in the run—up to the pandemic and during it and fell out spectacularly with boris johnson during it and fell out spectacularly with borisjohnson in september 2020. as you say, he has come up quite a lot in the evidence so far. when we get to this idea, this picture of dysfunction with a number 10 at the highest level of government and so i think we will hear a lot more about those whatsapp

messages and the relationships that were going on between the prime minister and his advisers and the civil service. minister and his advisers and the civilservice. but minister and his advisers and the civil service. but as i say, and he has been criticised by many within all of this but today he gets his moment. we can bring in our political correspondent. there are going to be explosions today, aren't there, he came up even yesterday? bearin there, he came up even yesterday? bear in mind you don't often get to hear from — bear in mind you don't often get to hear from senior civil servants, they're — hear from senior civil servants, they're supposed to be impartial and in the _ they're supposed to be impartial and in the shadows. we hear all the time from politicians but less so from these _ from politicians but less so from these officials. mark sedwill at the start of— these officials. mark sedwill at the start of the pandemic was the very top civil_ start of the pandemic was the very top civil servant in the land. one bil top civil servant in the land. one big feature — top civil servant in the land. one big feature of the inquiry so far has been — big feature of the inquiry so far has been the government's initial strategy. — has been the government's initial strategy, which was to mitigate rather— strategy, which was to mitigate rather than suppress, by which they effectively _ rather than suppress, by which they effectively wanted the virus to let rip in _ effectively wanted the virus to let rip in the — effectively wanted the virus to let rip in the population so people would — rip in the population so people would become immune and so it wouldn't — would become immune and so it wouldn't have a bigger problem. but then of— wouldn't have a bigger problem. but then of course it became very, very

clear— then of course it became very, very clear that _ then of course it became very, very clear that the nhs would become overwhelmed and lots and lots of people _ overwhelmed and lots and lots of people would die. dominic the top adviser— people would die. dominic the top adviser to — people would die. dominic the top adviser to the prime minister at the time, _ adviser to the prime minister at the time, suggested mark sedwill was calling _ time, suggested mark sedwill was calling for chickenpox parties, people — calling for chickenpox parties, people to get together to allow the covid to _ people to get together to allow the covid to spread. so no doubt he will be covid to spread. so no doubt he will he asked _ covid to spread. so no doubt he will be asked about that. we also learned yesterday _ be asked about that. we also learned yesterday in evidence from the forrner— yesterday in evidence from the former number 10 chief of staff eddie _ former number 10 chief of staff eddie lister that borisjohnson did suggest _ eddie lister that borisjohnson did suggest going on television live and injecting _ suggest going on television live and injecting himself with covid. that is something again that dominic cummings suggested had happened and now, collaborated by eddie lister. no doubt — now, collaborated by eddie lister. no doubt that will be a feature of the conversation today. and the wider— the conversation today. and the wider culture in downing street. as you say, _ wider culture in downing street. as you say, already the evidence we have _ you say, already the evidence we have had — you say, already the evidence we have had has painted a picture of huge _ have had has painted a picture of huge dysfunction, chaos, frankly, in downing— huge dysfunction, chaos, frankly, in downing street. you huge dysfunction, chaos, frankly, in downing street.— downing street. you use the words that were used. _ downing street. you use the words that were used. the _ downing street. you use the words that were used. the whole - downing street. you use the words that were used. the whole point i downing street. you use the words that were used. the whole point of| that were used. the whole point of this inquiry is to learn lessons of what happened and people like you and i get excited by some of the

personalities and those swear words we have heard plenty of and all those sorts of things from the whatsapp messages. the point of this inquiry is to learn the lessons. very interested in the structure of government and how it works or didn't work during a pandemic. sol think we will hear a bit more about that. we have heard a lot from advisers and officials and testimony of politicians who have obviously left but there is big significance to the existing administration? that's right. a feature of the evidence _ that's right. a feature of the evidence in recent days has been a focus _ evidence in recent days has been a focus not _ evidence in recent days has been a focus notjust on borisjohnson and the way— focus notjust on borisjohnson and the way that he led the country at the way that he led the country at the time — the way that he led the country at the time and those officials around him but _ the time and those officials around him but what was going on in number 11 downing _ him but what was going on in number 11 downing st, too, rememberthe incumbent — 11 downing st, too, rememberthe incumbent at the time then was the chancellor— incumbent at the time then was the chancellor rishi sunak, now prime minister— chancellor rishi sunak, now prime minister rishi sunak. sol chancellor rishi sunak, now prime minister rishi sunak. so i think watch _ minister rishi sunak. so i think watch today for some more conversations about eat out to help out scheme, the thing introduced in the summer of 2020, restaurant

discounts— the summer of 2020, restaurant discounts offered, some people suggesting that